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Nation & World

Posted: Wednesday, November 09, 2005

De Beers sold 26 percent of its South African business to help compensate black investors for centuries of white rule, loosening its grip on an industry that mines more than a 10th of the world's diamonds. Johannesburg-based De Beers said a group including staff and former politicians paid about $562 million for the stake. Legislation passed last year requires companies sell about a quarter of local assets to black investors to boost black participation in the economy and help make up for discrimination under apartheid.

Amtrak's board of directors on Wednesday fired President David Gunn, saying the debt-laden rail carrier needs "a leader with vision and experience." Gunn has struggled to maintain Amtrak service amid a sinking financial picture and a push by the White House and some in Congress to recraft it as a group of regional inter-city companies. Rep. John Mica said Gunn was fired because of a clash over the board's vote in September to authorize splitting off the Northeast Corridor, an idea backed by the Bush administration.

American International Group Inc., one of the world's largest insurers, said Wednesday it was delaying its third-quarter earnings report until next week because it must again restate earlier financial results to correct accounting errors. The insurance behemoth's (NYSE: AIG) shares see-sawed in trading as investors weighed the prospect of yet another restatement - this time for fiscal years 2002, 2003 and 2004 - against broker recommendations that AIG remained a good investment.